Fatigue Safe life evaluation of rotating swashplate of helicopter main rotor control system

Abstract

The main rotor control system is an important structural part of a helicopter that manages the thrust and control force of the helicopter. The main rotor control system consists of a swashplate assembly, scissor assembly, pitch rod assembly, guide, etc. The main rotor control system must endure various loads, such as the thrust and control force, and must meet the optimized fatigue safety life. The rotating swashplate is an important structure influenced by the pitch rod load and rotating scissor load. In this paper, the accuracy of a result about the rotating swashplate part of the main rotor control system is proven through comparison between fatigue test and FEM results. Based on this result, we estimate the lifetime and deduce the fatigue safe lifetime. © 2012 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers.